Canada Employment
Research Brief

Canada sees further employment gains. In June, Canada’s economy added roughly 60,000 jobs, bringing the year-to-date total to just over 290,000. This monthly surge, which was well above the consensus estimate of 20,000, fully reversed the surprise 17,300 drop in May — the first labour market contraction in eight months. Job growth in June was primarily driven by full-time employment, with Ontario seeing the largest monthly increase. As a result, Canada’s employment gains year-to-date are up roughly 30 per cent when compared to the same time period last year as the economy continues to absorb higher borrowing costs better than expected. Despite this surge in employment, the jobless rate ticked up 20 basis points to 5.4 per cent. This was due to rapid population growth amid historic immigration, leading to the number of people looking for work expanding at an even faster pace.